Gareth Bale's last-minute winner saw 10-man Sunderland end the season on a low note against Spurs.

The Black Cats arrived at White Hart Lane knowing they were already safe, but they needed a win to finish higher than fourth-bottom.

They turned in a terrific rearguard action against the Londoners – especially after David Vaughan was dismissed 15 minutes from time – and looked on course to earn an unlikely point until PFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year Bale produced a late screamer to deny Paolo Di Canio's side, who ended up finishing one place and three points clear of the drop zone.

But Spurs' win was not enough for them to pip their North London rivals Arsenal to fourth place, with the Gunners' win at Newcastle enough for them to secure the final Champions League spot.

Di Canio made two changes to the side that drew against Southampton – one of which was forced upon him.

With on-loan Danny Rose ineligible to play against his parent club, Jack Colback filled in at left-back with David Vaughan coming in to fill the gap that left in midfield.

The second change saw Phil Bardsley left out, with Seb Larsson moving to right-back and Adam Johnson moving back into midfield as a result, while Connor Wickham came into the side up front.

Di Canio also named a bench full of youngsters, with goalkeeper Kieron Westwood the only senior man among them.

Spurs dominated the game from start to finish, with Sunderland restricted to just a handful of forays forward.

Simon Mignolet was kept busy, making an early save from Emanuel Adebayor and then one from Tom Huddlestone.

There was controversy midway through the first period when Bale took a tumble in the penalty area under a challenge from Larsson. Bale wanted a penalty, but referee Andre Marriner was not impressed by the Welshman's theatrical fall and booked him for diving instead – much to the disgust of the player, and the home fans.

Sunderland may have offered little attacking threat, but the best chance of the first half fell to them just after the half-hour.

Wickham fed the ball out to Graham on the right, and the teenager continued his run to the near post to get on the end of Graham's low cross but his close-range shot was blocked by Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris.

At the other end, Mignolet also made good stops from a Bale free-kick and a long-range shot from Clint Dempsey before the interval.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with Spurs making all the running although Bale and Lennon spurned opportunities soon after the restart.

Graham brought another save out of Lloris, after Wickham had robbed Huddlestone in midfield.

Then Spurs were denied a cast-iron penalty when Carlos Cuellar threw himself in front of an Adebayor shot and got two hands to the ball, goalkeeper-style, only for Marriner to wave play on.

Sunderland had an incredible double escape just after the hour mark when Mignolet dropped a cross and Scott Parker's shot was cleared off the line by Colback, it came out to Lennon whose shot was on its way in until last defender Colback got just enough on the ball to divert it onto the post and the Black Cats hacked it clear.

Mignolet made more saves, denying Bale and Lennon amongst others.

Di Canio brought on youngsters Mikael Mandron and Billy Knott to give his side some extra energy, but almost immediately Sunderland were reduced to ten men when Vaughan – who had earlier been booked for a foul on Parker – was shown a second yellow for a foul on Lennon, followed by the inevitable red card.

Even so, it looked like Sunderland would come away with a draw until Bale struck.

Youngster Adam Mitchell had come off the bench for his debut just 60 seconds earlier, but Bale stepped inside him from the right-hand touchline and smashed an unstoppable left-foot shot past Mignolet and into the top left-hand corner.